we begin with breaking news out of new york city this morning. first flood, then fire for a neighborhood in queens where flames destroyed at least 50 homes overnight. these are just some of the amazing pictures. new this morning as we track the path of superstorm sandy. good morning, i'm laura garcia-cannon. >> and i'm jon kelley, good morning, everybody. let's get you right to the latest on that storm. at least 16 people are dead as sandy continues to make its assault on the northeast. that storm simply slamming the coast with a 13-foot surge of sea water in new york city, causing flooding and power failures everywhere. electricity out for millions of customers up and down that coast. nbc's daniel lee has new pictures and video from

superstorm sandy and the impact on the entire east coast. >> reporter: across the northeast, violent waves toppled over sea walls, threatening coastal communities. sandy sent a record 13-foot storm surge into new york city flooding tunnels, subways and streets. >> this is a once in a long time storm. the surge is very high. >> reporter: at a medical center a blown generator forced emergency evacuations. in atlantic city, new jersey, floodwater destroyed part of the famous boardwalk. the national guard rescued two dozen people trapped in a shelter that lost power. >> i think it should have been thought out a little earlier in the day. >> reporter: to anyone else on the barrier island, governor chris christie offered little hope. >> this is now your responsibility. if you're still able to hear me, you need you to hunker down and get to the highest point possible. >> reporter: this superstorm wreaked havoc from connecticut

to new york, stretching out more than 700 miles. strong winds at times over 80 miles an hour tore down trees and power lines. at least two homes in connecticut were destroyed by fire. and in queens another fire damaged more than 50 homes. several people have died because of sandy and millions have no power. across the nation, more than 12,000 flights have been cancelled. and this storm that could impact 60 million people isn't finished yet. in cape may, new jersey, i'm daniel lee, nbc news. >> here's a look at how devastating this is. look at this crane toppled over by fierce winds still dangling from the top of a luxury high rise there in new york city. emergency crews say that crane at this point is just too dangerous to remove. surrounding streets and buildings have been evacuated as a precaution there and the wind at the top of that building may have been close to 95 miles per hour at the time of that collapse. the city had to put all

construction work to a stop ahead of the storm. wow, that's just crazy to watch. they asked all contractors and property owners to secure their sites. >> so much destruction. let's now turn to meteorologist christina loren in our nbc bay area weather center to really put this storm into perspective. we knew it was going to be so large, christina. >> yeah, there's so many records that have already come with sandy's landfall. take a look at how big this massive storm is and in addition to the size, it is maintaining its organization this morning. so right now the center of low pressure is located 90 miles to the west of philly. we still have very heavy rain coming down in d.c., a blizzard taking place in west virginia and wind gusts still clocking upwards of 60 miles per hour throughout the northeast. let's talk about some of the different highlights that we've seen from this storm. so far it's been just tremendous. once the sun starts to come up, and that's happening right now during this broadcast, we're going to be able to show you

that aftermath so stick with us here on nbc bay area. record surge, almost 14-foot storm surge in new york city. we also had a record wave at 32 feet high. new york, new jersey, connecticut, in connecticut, new york and new jersey we have runway damage. it's unknown, we're going to get reports as we progress through the morning but check ahead with your carrier again today on all your flights if you're headed toward the northeast. we could also see ripples throughout the country today. we'll continue to track the path of sandy. still dealing with the storm for at least the next 48 hours. back over to you for now. >> we can tell you also sandy's impact reaching all the way right here in the bay area. a live look at san francisco where flights are still being cancelled at sfo because of all that storm damage out on the east. this morning we've just learned jfk airport is scheduled to actually reopen tomorrow morning. that is the plan right now. still no word yet on when flights will resume at la guardia and newark. we will have a live report

coming up on all the flights and the potential cancellations and the cancellations already taking effect coming up at 5:00 this morning. pg&e, this is how bad things are getting out there, pg&e is sending crews to try to help with all the repair and damage out there in new york. >> take a look at this massive transformer explosion at the con edson power plant in new york. more than 50 employees are being sent. 100 members of the air national guard left from moffett field yesterday to help out with rescue efforts. local chapters of the red cross also sending people out to the east coast to help out. >> to do what they can to help. as new video of sandy's aftermath comes into the newsroom, we'll bring it to you live throughout the morning both on air and online. we'll also bring you the latest on how the storm is impacting flights at three local airports. moving to other news, much closer to home, the man accused of abducting and killing sierra

lamar is due back in court today. there will be a hearing this afternoon although it's still unclear whether he'll waive his right to appear. garcia-torres is accused of abducting lamar back in march. prosecutors charging him with murder, even though the body of the teen airliager has never be found. >> we are learning more about the husband and wife charged with the death of a retired schoolteacher in hercules. prosecutors say the man and his wife robbed a k-mart in pinole before killing susie ko inside her home in hercules. prosecutors say the couple then stole ko's car and drove to washington state where they were arrested. darnell washington was extradited to contra costa county on sunday. his wife's extradition is pending. the family of a teenager shot and killed by a south san francisco police officer is now suing the police department. the family will announce the

details of the lawsuit this afternoon at the gas station where he was shot back in june. police say an officer shot gain eas he reached for a gun that had fallen out of his waist band. investigators later determined that gun was not loaded. the department says the officer was in fact justified for that shooting. the family of former nursing student michelle le say yesterday's sentence handed down against her killer is giving them a sense of closure. >> we're just happy that justice has finally been served. it felt like yesterday we were going through all of this and to finally wrap it all up with the right choice is less a burden. >> 29-year-old gisele esteban was convicted of murder. le disappeared in may, her body found four months later in pleasanton. esteban faces a minimum of 25 years to life. she'll be sentenced on december 10th. it's 4:37. let's check back in with

meteorologist christina loren who's been tracking closely all the damage from hurricane sandy. now just a superstorm out there. a lot of devastation on that east coast. >> we are so blessed to be waking up here on the west coast. our highs today are going to be in the 70s. we are going to have a picture-perfect day and continue to bring you the latest on sandy, where she's headed and show you the damage reports as the sun is now coming up on the east coast. 52 for san jose to start and grab your jacket in gilroy, 49 degrees. expected to drop off into the mid-40s in the coolest cities across the bay this morning. we still have thick fog to deal with this morning. santa rosa to napa, less than a quarter mile visibility. you're going to find the surface streets socked in with fog across the bay area. so give yourself extra time, travel cautiously. it should burn off again at about 11:00 noon. 69 degrees in san francisco so overall a little cooler by five degrees. we're talking about a lot of

sunshine, still tracking that rain on halloween. we'll get to that forecast coming up. 4:38. first we want to check your drive. it's a traffic tuesday with mike. >> it is traffic tuesday. now light volume so far but already we have the problems you talked about. this is palo alto, 101, the glowing lights and low clouds along the peninsula. on the freeways you have only the issues through the areas christina is talking about. at times, though, very thick fog. here the peninsula looks pretty smooth. you can see no problems off the high rise of the san mateo bridge. look at the hayward side of the san mateo bridge, you can barely make out the roadway at the toll plaza. let's get another live look outside and see how things are shaping up. at the toll plaza itself you are okay but you can barely make out those lights so watch those thick patches of fog so far. just like yesterday, we'll track those.

the world champion san francisco giants say they're looking forward to tomorrow's world series victory parade. fans gave the team a hero's welcome at at&t park yesterday. hoping for a glimpse of their favorite players, look at that. the world series champions, they didn't disappoint. look at pablo sandoval, running toward the crowd showing off this world series trophy. >> they earned this. >> it feels awesome because i've never seen them in real life. >> the fans really mean a lot to them and it means a lot to us that they're so person al. that's what makes these giants so awesome. that's why i'm a huge fan. >> there you go in, real life. preparations for the parade moving at the speed of a fastball. organizers working overtime to make sure everything is just right. the ticker tape parade route goes from the foot of market street near the ferry building all the way up market to mcalster and then over to city hall, so a different route from last time but pretty straight. >> and this one is going

tuberculosis a party. the second time is always sweeter. 4:40. coming up, the coverage of the superstorm raking across the east coast. that will continue next. wall street, as you can see, empty this morning. trading shut down once again because of sandy. we will have a live report next. plus the storm is also forcing both presidential candidates to cancel campaign stops. we'll have the latest details coming up. and be sure to stay with nbc bay area for continuing coverage of sandy and the impact on the east coast. the "today" show will have live coverage of sandy's wrath coming up at 7:00.

attention shoppers breaker, breaker one-nine.

hello (laughs). there are lots of ways to get your voice heard. voting's the one that really counts. you can make an impact... the more you know. welcome back, everyone. take a look at the force of the winds. this is a live look at seaside heights, new jersey, this morning. they are really assessing all the damage from hurricane sandy. we will have more coming up. in fact jon does right now on the federal response. >> that's right. meantime in nearby washington, d.c., they are monitoring the federal response to that superstorm out there and impact on the presidential campaign now just one week away. nbc's tracie potts has the latest on that part of the story. >> reporter: instead of campaigning today as planned, president obama is getting briefings at the white house and warning americans.

>> please listen to what your state and local officials are saying. when they tell you to evacuate, you need to evacuate. >> reporter: he declared emergencies in eight states, plus washington, d.c., before the storm. virginia and west virginia were added early this morning, along with the first federal disaster areas. new jersey and new york. with the president busy in washington, president clinton filled in at a rally in ohio. >> he got up this morning and called me and said i've got to go back right now. this storm is getting out of hand, i've got to handle it. and i said, mr. president, that is the right call. >> reporter: governor mitt romney scheduled a storm relief rally in ohio today. he and paul ryan are urging supporters to donate. >> swing by, give a hand. you know firsthand what people are going to need. >> make sure we do our very best to help those that are being impacted by this storm. >> anything that he says injects pure politics into it. and so you want to be careful if you're the romney team to keep an eye on it, obviously.

but don't necessarily try to get in front of the story in any way. >> reporter: one week before the election, polls are tied, but campaigning at a standstill. >> i am not worried at this point about the impact on the election, i'm worried about the impact on families. >> reporter: tracie potts, nbc news, washington. >> 4:46. sandy is also affecting the markets. wall street is closed this morning once again and will be until things get cleaned up. for the latest details we turn to jackie deangeles live at cnbc headquarters. >> reporter: the u.s. financial markets will be closed due to the storm. this is still electronic trading of stock futures and options. the new york stock exchange and the nasdaq intend to reopen on wednesday. they're going to test backup trading systems today. the last time that the nyse was closed more than a day because of the weather, that was 1888

when a snowstorm piled up 40-foot drifts in new york city. we're expecting one piece of economic data this morning on home prices and also the labor department says that it still plans to release the october jobs report as scheduled on friday, so all eyes will be on that and of course repairs for this storm that we've specio experienced. back to you. it is 4:47. the devastation continuing out east. meanti meantime, we've got another slice of heaven out here. >> upper 70s today. >> wow. >> maybe a little rain on halloween but not until overnight. i think it's going for come down after all of us have made our way out to trick-or-treat. i will be trick-or-treating this year. just kidding. you're never too old to start trick-or-treating. temperatures are running cool this morning. 55 in sonoma, 56 in napa and so basically when it does come to the rain that we are expecting, it looks like late wednesday into thursday, we'll take a close look at what that means

for your city in just moments. we've got a lot of fog out there. give yourself a little extra time if you want to reach your destination safely and on time. oakland, you're at half a mile visibility, quarter mile in santa rosa and napa and just two miles in san mateo. expecting these numbers to continuously fall the next threw hours. by 1:00 p.m. getting a lot of sunshine over the greater bay area. still mostly cloudy from santa rosa to novato and that's to be expected with an approaching storm system on the way. we stop the clock at 11:00 a.m. wednesday just in time for that parade in downtown san francisco. it's going to be nice and dry. a little bit of cloud cover, maybe a little drizzle, but overall i don't think you'll need an umbrella or poncho. 5:00 p.m. it starts to get a little active in santa rosa. trick-or-treating will happen about 6:30 and we won't see the showers start to move down south until we hit your overnight

hours. so 4:00 a.m. thursday, yeah, we're going to get it. that means a very wet commute on thursday, clearing you out by friday. lots of sunshine for today. if you have outdoor activities you need to take care of, today is a great day to do so. 77 in livermore, 77 in gilroy. 71 in san rafael. seven-day forecast, yeah, it starts to get dicey late wednesday. like we said we're not expecting showers until overnight. it looks like the showers will come through just in time for your morning commute so keep that in mind. friday, saturday, sunday, clearing you out and warming you up. >> thank you very much. you gave us the forecast on the parade along with all the fans that will be out there. the san francisco police planning to be out in force with more than a half million people expected to attend. officers say they will not tolerate any of that ridiculous behavior seen sunday night when the giants wrapped up the world series. crowds turned violent in some parts of the city, setting a muni bus on fire, flipping cars

and lighting those bonfires. the police chief said he had officers deployed in hot spots but when the alcohol-fueled celebrations got out of hand, it was not safe for officers to escort fire crews into those unpredictable crowds. >> fueled by alcohol, our arrests go from public drunkenness to barrel bombs and shooting a rifle recklessly out a window. >> police made a total of 35 arrests during all of that mess. it is 4:50. the u.s. supreme court will decide next month whether or not to review california's proposition 8. a notice posted on the high court's website says prop 8, which bans same-sex marriage, is on the agenda of a private conference scheduled for november 20th. if the court decides to take on the case, we'll know by november 26th. the case reached the supreme court after the sponsors of prop 8 asked the court to overturn a decision by the ninth u.s.

circuit court of appeals which found the measure up constitutional. moving to business and tech, a big-time shakeup at apple. the head of mobile software being forced to leave the company. this move comes after he refused to sign his name to a letter apologizing for apple's new mapping system service. he has been a common presence in apple's product launches for years. he joined apple back in 1997. apple also says its head of retail, john browett, is leaving. he joined the company back in april. business and tech reporter, scott mcgrew, will have a lot more on this apple shakeup in the next half hour. coming up, our breaking news coverage of hurricane sandy continues next, including how it affected "late night with jimmy fallon." >> i hope it didn't affect his history of rap. we're looking at the 880 freeway coming through fremont. i'll show you what else you can't see coming up. i love the concept of mentoring because you're really able to

make a difference in the life of one young person. my mentor is a role model for me. she told me about all the opportunities that there is in life. she has transformed into an amazing young woman, and i feel so fortunate to be a part of that. i think a mentor can really open the eyes of a young person to all the possibilities that are out there for them if they just go after their dreams. so get involved and do your part, invest in the future, mentor a child.

welcome back, everyone. it has been rough on the east coast. this is a look at new york's times square, a virtual ghost town as they continue to assess the damage. the power still on but in that city close to 700,000 people without power this morning. we will continue checking this one as the damage results continue to come in. and hurricane sandy may be pounding that east coast, but as

they say in new york city, the show must go on. it always does out there. nbc's jimmy fallon taped shows of late night yesterday and he did it without an audience. yeah, nobody up in the stands. he wasn't alone. david letterman also had to roll on. he did it without a live studio audience. but jimmy kimmel, jon stewart and steven colbert ended up cancelling their monday taping. >> kind of like us. we don't have a live studio audience. 4:55. the space shuttle "endeavour" ready for one last mission as a tourist attraction. starting this morning visitors will be able to get a closer look at its new home there in the california science center in los angeles. people will not be allowed "endeavour" but will get to walk underneath it. governor jerry brown will attend this morning's grand opening. it is 4:55. let's check back in on mike

inouye to see what's happening on our roads. it looks like it's tough to see out there. >> yeah, we're going to show you what we can't see. these are the headlights coming toward us. i've moved the camera we have in emeryville. normally we look at the approach to the bay bridge. i moved it pointing straight down just to show from the rooftops to the roadway there's some low clouds that keep drifting through. visibility may be an issue in patches. the roadway is okay, it's just the low clouds continue to hover. the maps you see, it looks like it's clear. again for the roadway and visibility out of the caldecott tunnel and down the east shore freeway, you're okay. at the top of the screen you see the orange. that's where the fog might be an issue for drivers especially coming through the north bay, from santa rosa in toward mill valley. we'll also look at the fog around the san mateo bridge toll plaza. very heavy there. hard to see on the roadway, especially the surface streets. live look outside for the south

bay shows you san jose as well. even though you can see the lights here, you can see the glow and barely make out the silhouette of the overpass at the top of the screen. that's an issue especially of the surface streets. back to you. 4:57. some amazing images continue coming out of the east coast this morning. take a look at this photo snapped of an elevator in hoboken, new jersey, that is water simply gushing out. we'll have live team coming coming up. and for all your news, weather and traffic updates, check us out on facebook. just search nbc bay area news.

our coverage of all that damage superstorm sandy has left behind continues this morning. just amazing video out of new york overnight. this is from the borough of queens. new images of sandy's wrath continue to roll into our newsroom. good morning, everybody. thank yo